


The Night Things Fall Apart

by RoseWinterborn



Series: Nights in Time [1]
Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Angst, Other, sad times after the final resting place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 19:16:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20711150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseWinterborn/pseuds/RoseWinterborn
Summary: Peter knows that's a mistake. A clean break would be better, easier...but there's still so much emotion in Juno's eye, hope in his grief, that he can't bring himself to refuse. He leans in to kiss Juno softly on the mouth, and seals both their fates.





	The Night Things Fall Apart

**Author's Note:**

> Prequel piece to "Back to the Hedgerows"

It starts slow, one long, sweet kiss on the balcony overlooking Hyperion City from their hotel room, Peter's hand cupped over Juno's jaw, Juno's tucked around Peter's waist. He's pliant in Peter's arms, mirroring his movements as Peter takes the kiss gently deeper. Juno moans quietly into his mouth and his heart flutters, making his breath come short and slightly ragged. Between kisses, Peter leads him back inside, tows him to the bed, and lays him down, hands skimming Juno's sides reverently, fingers catching in the folds of his shirt on their way up to tangle in his hair. 

With one abrupt movement, Juno pulls Peter down on top of him and kisses him fiercely, hands roaming his body fervently. There's something there that Peter doesn't like, a frenzy that isn't what Pete wants at all. He catches Juno's wrists and gently pins them over his head, holding them there with one hand and smoothing the detective's hair back with the other. 

Peter can feel the change in Juno's body, the tension that rolls through him in slow motion as he peppers the lady's jaw with kisses. He can feel it in the cadence of his lover's breath and the way it goes uneven, in the way his wrists strain as he clenches his hands into fists under Peter's grip. 

"_Please just get on with it._" 

Peter pauses, uncertain if he's heard anything at all, and props himself up on his elbows, his brow furrowed. He runs his thumb gently under Juno's missing eye, careful not to catch the edge of the gauze. "Juno?"

Junos remaining eye is closed tight for a long moment, before he opens it and meets Peter's worried gaze. 

There's so..._much_ in his eye, that if Peter had been standing he'd have been brought to his knees. 

Juno chokes back a sob, and Peter releases his wrists, pressing his palms against Juno's cheeks and stroking the tears away, trying to comfort, trying not to panic. Juno has never been like this, not on the train, not in the tomb. Never broken, not while running from Engstrom, not when exhausted from Miasma's tests, not even elbow-deep in Peter's own worst memories. 

"Juno, love, please. What's wrong?" _How can I help?_

Juno's voice is less than a croak, less than a whisper, less than a hiss of breath passing his lips. "I can't--"

Peter's heart is sinking like a stone, because he knows what Juno _can't_. "Can't what, sweetheart?"

"Can't leave." Juno closes his eye again, more tears pressing out from the creased lid. 

Peter's frozen, wondering what Juno saw in his expression, if he watched Peter's whole world fall out from under him in the space between one heartbeat and the next. Woodenly, he strokes his fingers through Juno's hair. "Its okay, Juno. It's all right." 

He should have known from the despondent set of Junos shoulders after the detonation. From the emptiness in his eye during every conversation thereafter. 

Juno's breath is labored, his arms suddenly tight around Peter's torso, holding him close as he falls apart. He presses his forehead into the hollow of Peter's throat. On the one hand, it's nice. It feels useful, to be held this way. On the other, he knows now that they have an expiration date. 

"Do you want me to leave?" He asks, once Juno starts to quiet. The lady shakes his head quickly, forehead still tight against Peter's throat. He pulls away slowly, looking up at him, his eye red-rimmed and full of pain. 

"Just. Let me. Let's. Have this. Just tonight." 

Peter knows that's a mistake. A clean break would be better, easier...but there's still so much emotion in Juno's eye, hope in his grief, that he can't bring himself to refuse. He leans in to kiss Juno softly on the mouth, and seals both their fates. 

He makes love to the detective slowly, carefully cataloging each and every expression that crosses his face, each crease of his brow, each sigh and whimper and moan. He falls asleep with Juno tucked against his chest, the scruff on his chin itching against Peter's sternum. When he wakes to an empty bed the next morning, it's with no surprise, only resignation. 


End file.
